MAJORCA MARINAS WANT TO BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT OFF COMPETITION

LAST week's Palma boat show provided a platform for the nautical industry to repeat its calls for the local government to ease its restriction of the business, allow more moorings to be built and allow the thriving industry to expand. Yesterday, Majorca marina bosses confirmed that the island is starting, albeit slowly, to lose out to Croatia, Turkey and Italy where the regional nautical industries have enjoyed huge government backing and are now competing with the rest of the Mediterranean. According to leading local marina directors, this winter, business was down 20 per cent on winter 2001/2002 because of more and more yachts heading to competing and alternative destinations. Peak season, which has just begun, will not suffer as much. Director of the Club Nautico in Palma, Gabriel Barceló, said that business will be the same as last year because of the steady flow of visiting yachts “but this only lasts for a month, a month-and-a-half maximum,” he said. Captain of Puerto Portals, José Erazo, also said that this winter was a quiet one “we've got 670 moorings, December, January and February were not good because of the unusual weather, but that's normal and we are recovering,” he said. Business was also down at the Club de Mar in Palma, Captain Antonio Arrom estimated the drop in demands for moorings at around 20 per cent compared to previous winters. “We've got 620 moorings and we've noticed the decline, simply because the boats prefer to go to other ports which are more reasonably priced like Croatia and Turkey,” he said. However, the Club de Mar, along with all the other yacht clubs, will be full, as usual this summer, which will enable the club to recoup its loss of income caused by the drop in demand for moorings. In the north east, the situation is slightly different. Puerto Pollensa yacht club is not as dependent of transitory mooring “the bulk of our business is in July, August and September.” Local yachting companies in Puerto Pollensa said yesterday that trade is brisk as usual with boats and moorings selling very well.
However, for the rest of the island, the need for room to expand marinas and the industry is more urgent than ever.
Nautical industry experts have been warning of the potential threat posed by new and developing destinations in the Mediterranean for the past few years, stressing the need for more moorings. The Balearics is one of the most popular yachting destinations in the Mediterranean, but the industry is being prevented from building on its expertise and reputation.